Battle Castle is a real-life Westeros, without the dragons

Game of Thrones gives Battle Castle a boost

Two men stand atop the highest tower of a castle perched on a hill. One remarks that the tower’s location provides excellent fields of fire: 320 degrees, or thereabouts, from which defenders could rain down arrows on their attackers.

It is a conversation that would fit nicely within the books of George R.R. Martin, whose works often include details of medieval-style military tactics. But it is not fiction. It is Battle Castle, a series developed by a production team based in British Columbia and which airs on History Television.

Maija Leivo, the series producer, smiles in agreement when it is suggested in an interview that Battle Castle’s debut was fortuitously timed, landing as it does in a popular culture where, post-Lord of the Rings and mid-Game of Thrones, castles are cool.

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“I do think Lord of the Rings made it sexy again, these epic battles and the tactics and strategy,” she says, adding that Game of Thrones has continued with some of those same themes. “But the interesting thing is that what you are reading about in those books, that’s what we’re showing you.” Just a real-life version of it, as each episode examines an actual siege and battle that took place sometime in the Middle Ages, from places as diverse as modern-day England, Syria and Spain.

Leivo’s partner, Ian Herring, says the renewed popularity of swords-and-sandals shows allows adults, on some level, to get back into things they might have studied as kids. But the stories themselves, such as the siege at Crac de Chevaliers, which was a pivotal battle during the Crusades, are riveting in their own right.

“It’s what I call the sex and politics of castles,” he says. “It’s irresistible.”

Indeed, there are historic double-crosses and scheming and manipulation in the mix, but Battle Castle at its core is the story of ingenuity of man. Leivo calls ancient castles the original aircraft carriers — military strongholds that allowed their owners to project power across a vast space — but they also relied on clever design to make the sum greater than the parts. “It’s stones doing the work of men,” she says.

Thus, the scene at the castle on the hill in what is now Malaga, Spain. The structure was built in the 15th century, but, as a historian explains to host Dan Snow, even then the defenders figured out that if they could force the attackers up a certain wall and have towers off to the side, they would have a clear line at the flanks.

A mix of graphics and re-enactments explains how it all went down, 500-plus years ago.

“Ultimately, we’re trying to grab some viewers and take them on a ride,” Leivo says.